HMS Prince of Wales sails into Scottish loch to load up on ammunition

HMS Prince of Wales sailed beneath clear blue skies to Glenmallan jetty in Loch Long, Argyll and Bute, on Thursday—one of the warmest days recorded this year.

The 900 or so crew onboard will load the 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier with munitions at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) site.

The 280m-long ship, carrying helicopters and drones, left Portsmouth earlier this month to begin training in home waters before loading up with weapons in Scotland.

The action comes ahead of Operation Firecrest, announced by the Prime Minister at the Munich Security Conference in February. The task will see the carrier deployed across the North Atlantic and High North, with HMS Prince of Wales leading the force.

Officials said the operation is designed to deter Russian aggression, protect critical undersea infrastructure and demonstrate the UK’s ability to project force at scale within a NATO framework, coming against a backdrop of a 30 per cent increase in Russian naval vessels threatening UK waters over the past two years.

“The High North continues to be a critical area of interest to the Royal Navy with regular deployments to the Arctic Circle and surrounding areas – working alongside allies and partners,” the navy said in a statement.

“It comes as the Royal Navy and the wider UK Armed Forces continue to be ready to protect UK waters and wider interests from a variety of potential threats. Our men and women are prepared with a range of cutting-edge equipment, ships and aircraft to ensure the safety of infrastructure and other critical systems.”

Earlier this month, Defence Secretary John Healey warned of “growing Russian aggression in all domains.”

In a speech, he said: “I am making this statement to call out this Russian activity. And to President Putin, I say this: we see you, we see your activity over our cables and pipelines. And you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated, and will have serious consequences.”